Long May She Reign

It's King Jorgen's birthday celebration and all the members of the court are enjoying the party. Freya is a deceased noblewoman's daughter and very prone to anxiety when encountering crowds. When she starts getting a panic attack during the party, she and her best friend Naomi decide to take a ride back home to the safety of the lab. Unfortunately, the cake is poisoned and most of the court is dead, instantly elevating Freya from 23rd in line to the Queen. Now, she has to survive, find the actual murderers and win the acceptance of the people while trying to convince her detractors that she wasn't the culprit in the first place. For this task, she gets help from her new heir Madeleine and the dead king's illegitimate son Fitzroy. How she navigates all these tricky situations and comes out alive is the rest of the story.

I had hopes from this book because it had a lot going for it – the circumstances of her succession being quite similar to the premise of the show Designated Survivor was how I got interested; this was a stand-alone fantasy novel which is so hard to find; and I just wanted to read a new author (for me). Though this book had lot of potential, the plot was actually quite simple. There was no thrilling suspense regarding the search for the mass murderer and when the true culprit was found, it just seemed too simplistic. There was some conflict but it never seemed like there was any danger. Despite these problems, I really liked reading the book. Freya was such an introvert in the beginning, only finding solace in her science; but she has tremendous growth in the story and due to her genuine compassion, shows that she can be a good ruler, albeit a scientific one. There is very little romance and I kind of like that – fantasy novels becoming more romantic and less fantastic is quite disappointing to me and I was happy that this book didn't go that way. But the best part of the book was definitely its female friendships; especially Freya and Naomi and sometimes also Madeleine. Reading about the dynamic between the two best friends made me nostalgic and miss my best friend who I haven't seen in years. I really think more books need to have healthy female friendships where the girls bond over things other than boys. I just wished this book had a little more complicated plot; nevertheless, I finished it in one sitting and had a good time reading it. This might be a good recommendation for readers new to the fantasy genre.

I have been in a reading slump lately, and this book was all around impressive. There were fantasy aspects(teensy really), mystery, mass murder, and a very slight romance.

Freya is a timid, does not like big crowds, and is 23rd in line for the crown. Attending the King's latest feast is not only a waste of time in her eyes, but an egregious waste of food. She and her best friend, Naomi, make an escape as soon as they can! To where? Her home lab! Ah, a girl after my own heart. She is running home experiments, keeping meticulous notes, on how to... ok its not really important. What is important, is I loved her. She stays true to her scientist roots throughout the whole novel. Anyways, her dad bursts in, and drops the bomb, everyone at court was poisoned, and Freya is now queen, and must be protected, and Naomi is also in line and cannot go looking for her brother. Sad face!

The bulk of this book is Freya experimenting, trying to come up with a test for arsenic, so that tasters do not have to taste for this in food. Good idea Freya! Seriously, I love this girl. She becomes close to people from the old court who survived, and there are betrayals. But, because Freya is insistent on needing proof of guilt, she rules with an even head, even when she feels personally slighted by someone. Once in a while Freya comes off as kind of meek, but I think in the end she really shines, her strengths aren't typical of that of a female lead, and she and strong friends and allies to back her up.

One more thing I liked about this book, it is a standalone! Yay! I would suggest this, I breezed through it in a few hours which lately has been pretty difficult for me to do.

I adored getting to see Freya grow and mature (and, admittedly, would LOVE to get a sequel of her being even more awesome) but for me the absolute best thing about this book was that she was a science girl and solved all her problems using brains and ingenuity. I love the idea, too, of a queen that has her own laboratory where she conducts experiments. Supporting cast is brilliant and nuanced and I liked pretty much everyone. (sigh Including the killer.)

Review from my blog: https://athousandworldssite.wordpress.com/
As twenty-third in line to the throne, Freya would much rather spend her days in her laboratory than in court. Her life changes on the king's birthday though, when a mass poisoning sweeps the party.

Now queen, Freya must navigate court life, attempt to be true to herself and rule a kingdom, all while investigating the murders.

Freya is pretty darn unique, especially for YA fantasy I'd have to say. She suffers from social anxiety and panic attacks. She's smart, analytical and rational, always needing answers and asking lots of questions.

What I think I love most about Freya is that she suspects everyone in the book at least once. (Except for her best friend, Naomi.) She suspects her advisers, her servants, her court, even her own father. No one is ruled out immediately – a la ‘oh, it couldn't possibly be them' only to have them turn out to be the killer.

I adore Freya, Naomi, Fitzroy and Madeleine. It's so nice to see their building friendships and all the twists and turns that they take. Granted, some didn't take the twists and turns that I would have liked, but what can you do?

The plot is, at it's core, a mystery. There's plenty of other trappings going on, but it's really Freya sleuthing around to figure out who killed the court – mostly just as a way to keep her safe. And I liked that. She's aware that she's interested in finding the guilty party to protect herself at least as much – probably more – than to get justice for the dead. (Honestly, the resolution to the mystery was something that I never expected/saw coming, so it gets bonus points for that.)

I only have a couple small problems. First, around page one hundred, the book lags. It starts off brilliantly, once we hit about a third through, it takes off, but there is a stretch that just doesn't move.

Also, it's frustrating. I can imagine it was supposed to be because it's frustrating for Freya and it's frustrating as a reader. I want the mystery solved. I want the advisors to quit treating Freya like a nincompoop. I want respect for the queen. Sure, I get it all, but it was just frustrating caring so much and getting soundly trounced.

Which, now that I think on it, may actually be a good thing because that does at least show that I truly care about the characters. And I do care about Freya. The rest of her inner circle a little less, but I do adore the girl. (And this is very definitely Freya's story.)